Gerald McCoy suffers possibly torn ACL at Cowboys practice
By John Buhler
Gerald McCoy’s injury may be a torn ACL, with an MRI scheduled soon.
The Dallas Cowboys saw top free-agent signee Gerald McCoy suffer a leg injury in practice.
According to the NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, “Cowboys veteran DT Gerald McCoy went down in practice with an apparent leg injury, I’m told. The severity is unclear, but something to watch for moving forward.” McCoy signed a three-year deal to play for his favorite childhood team over the offseason. If the injury is as bad as what we speculate it might be, what a blow for the Cowboys.
#Cowboys veteran DT Gerald McCoy went down in practice with an apparent leg injury, I’m told. The severity is unclear, but something to watch for moving forward.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) August 17, 2020
Rapoport later added that it was believed to be a torn ACL.
#Cowboys DL Gerald McCoy is feared to have torn his ACL during practice today, sources tell me and @SlaterNFL. He’ll have an MRI that will tell the full story, and nothing is known until then. But that’s the initial word following the incident.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) August 17, 2020
Could the Dallas Cowboys be able to offset a major injury to Gerald McCoy?
McCoy was a standout in college for the Oklahoma Sooners. He spent the bulk of his NFL career playing in relative anonymity for the lousy Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Despite being a six-time Pro Bowler and a four-time All-Pro performer, the Buccaneers didn’t qualify for the NFC playoffs once in his nine years with Tampa. He missed the playoffs in his lone year with 2019 Carolina Panthers.
While McCoy was arguably the most talented player on the 2020 Cowboys defense, he does play in the right position group capable of offsetting a major loss. The Cowboys’ pass rush should be their strength on the defensive side of the ball. Look for guys like DeMarcus Lawrence, Everson Griffen, Tyrone Crawford and maybe even Aldon Smith to step up in his potential absence.
The bummer in all this is if McCoy is done for the season, he will have missed out on his best chance to play on a playoff team for the first time in his career. Though he was on a few decent teams in Tampa, Dallas is expected to be one of seven playoff teams in the NFC this year. The Cowboys could win the NFC East, but should at the very least be an NFC Wild Card team in 2020.
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McCoy is an utterly fascinating guy, an incredibly smart man and a tremendous interview. He succeeds at anything he puts his mind to. Adding him to the mix in Dallas was a purely positive move for the Cowboys to make this offseason. Of course, the bulk of that would be coming from his elite level of play in his borderline Pro Football Hall of Fame career. If he’s out, that’s brutal.
Let’s keep an eye on McCoy’s injury and hope he can return to the field as soon as possible.